


Hot and Cold

by After_all_this_time



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Slow Burn, catholic sapphire, emotionally repressed sapphire, everybody is crushing on everybody, ruby plays lacrosse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 12:38:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19151182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/After_all_this_time/pseuds/After_all_this_time
Summary: In which Delmarva University freshmen Sapphire and Ruby suffer from "doesn't realize that she's crushing on a girl" syndrome and "doesn't realize that a girl is crushing on her" syndrome, respectively.  Slow burn





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's move-in day at Delmarva University.

"Mom, it's okay, I can put the sheets on my own bed, I'm fine-"  
"Sapphire, I'm just trying to help."  
"But you're not doing it the way I want it done...oh, never mind," Sapphire added under her breath, turning away in frustration and trying not to make eye contact with her new roommate. Speaking of her new roommate, she didn't even know her name. She stole a glance at the other side of the room and saw that the boxes filled with the other girl's belongings were all neatly packaged with tape and clearly labelled "Pearl Beaumont". Pearl's father was standing near the door where Sapphire's father had apparently roped him into a conversation about what he did for a living and what his daughter's ACT scores were. The other man was, understandably, looking uncomfortable. Sapphire's mother finished mucking up her bed and was now forcefully hugging her.  
"Ok, baby, call me tonight. I'll miss you!"  
Sapphire hated it when her mother called her baby.  
After many more delays and goodbyes, her parents finally left the room and Sapphire breathed a sigh of relief. Now that they were out of the way she could begin unpacking her things properly. Pearl was apparently doing the same behind her, as evidenced by the sounds of tape being peeled off of boxes. First, to put away her clothes. Sapphire hung up her supply of modest, warm clothing- her style had been shaped around two factors. One was her sophomore Theology teacher's adamant message about the virtue of keeping it covered that had ended up sticking better than expected, and another was Sapphire's inherent tendency to feel cold constantly. Next she fixed her several blue blankets the way she liked them- the thinnest ones layered towards the bottom and the thicker ones on the top, and hung up a few things on the wall, including a small wooden crucifix that went above the bed and a framed photograph of her high school choir from last year with the first place award from the state competition. It was one of the few photos that Sapphire had of herself where she was truly smiling. She was quite shy and had an uncanny ability to predict the outcomes of things, which, over the years, had left her with quite the poker face. Half an hour later, once all of her things were truly in their place, she clambered up onto the bed, cursing the bed risers and her short height, and looked over the schedule for the next few days that she had been given. It said that lunch started at 11:30, and it was 11 now. Sapphire guessed that it would be better to arrive earlier, so that she wouldn't have to wait in line. The dining hall was at least a quarter of a mile across campus and since she hadn't been there before and she wanted to see a little bit of campus before lunch, that meant she should probably go ahead and leave, despite just starting to get comfortable sitting on her bed. Oh well. Such was fate. 

\--------------------

Ruby hastily pulled the last of her boxes out of the back of her mother's car. Once it had hit the curb, she barely had time to yell goodbye before the car sped off down the street. She sighed. Her mom was pissy because Ruby's shitty car had broken down that morning, meaning her mom had to give her a ride to Move In Day and get her car fixed at home and then drive it up later. Ruby understood that it was inconvenient, but it wasn't worth trying to explain to her mother that she hadn't had any control over it. Now, here she was, standing on the curb with a giant pile of bedding, boxes, and lacrosse gear that she couldn't possibly carry across campus on her own. Nor could she take more than one trip without risking her stuff getting stolen or thrown away. She was contemplating the logistics of the situation and staring hopelessly off into space when something large and pink obscured her vision. Ruby refocused her eyes to see a beautiful face surrounded by an impossible amount of pink hair.  
"Need any help?" the strange woman asked.  
"Um- uh, yeah, I mean- yeah. I need help carrying this to my dorm, but if you're busy or something-" Ruby stammered, caught off guard.  
"I would love to help you. What's your name?"  
"Ruby Williams. What's yours?"  
"I'm Rose Quartz. It's nice to meet you, Ruby. Meeting new people is incredibly special. Each person offers a unique experience and outlook on life. You have something to offer the world that no one else does," Rose said, beaming down a huge smile at Ruby. What an introduction! Ruby didn't know how to reply to that.  
"Uh, so, how do you suppose we'll get this stuff across campus? Even with the two of us, there's too much to carry," Ruby asked. Rose grinned again.  
"I know a guy with a van." 

The "guy with a van" turned out to be a long-haired local musician named Greg Universe. The man seemed nice enough, but as Ruby loaded up her junk into the back of the van, she couldn't help remembering being told as a child to never, ever, ever, get into a stranger's car, especially a van. But it was too late now. She hopped into the van with Rose and Greg and hoped for the best. 

Ruby's dorm was actually only about half a mile away, but having the van ended up being a good thing, since it started drizzling lightly right after they got in. They helped Ruby carry up her boxes and bags, and once Greg brought up the last of it, he plopped down on the floor and pulled out his phone.  
"It's nearly time for lunch," he said.  
"Oh, Ruby! We can walk you to the dining hall! You can even sit with us, if you don't know anyone else there." Rose offered.  
"Uh, yeah, sure," Ruby replied.  
She wasn't quite sure exactly how the cosmos lined up to put her in with an impossibly tall pink haired woman and this strange man child named Greg, all within an hour of arriving at college.  
Such was fate.


	2. Lunch Proceedings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire freezes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I'm still trying to figure out how to format stuff on here, so pardon the fact that this is one giant block of text. I'm hoping I'll get better at it. If anyone has any pointers, don't hesitate to tell me.

_Frozen._ Sapphire was frozen. Her surroundings- the busy dining hall, the loud voices and clattering and chairs being pushed back, the different food smells all mixed up together- seemed to be spinning round and round, like a loud, overwhelming tornado, and Sapphire had been sucked into the middle of it. Even louder was her internal monologue. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, there's no where to sit alone, but I can't just sit with anyone, but I need to sit down somewhere, and people are already looking at me, but there's nowhere-_ "Hey! Girl in the blue shirt!" Meltdown cut off, Sapphire turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Over here!" Her eyes finally landed on a smiling girl waving at her. "You wanna come sit with us?" she asked. "That would be...perfect. Thank you," Sapphire replied quietly, ducking her head slightly and blushing. As much as she hated attention from strangers, she was grateful for the invitation. She slid in next to the girl. "What's your name?" Sapphire asked her. "Ruby Williams. What's yours?" And so they exchanged pleasantries, and Ruby introduced her to the rest of the table. There was Rose Quartz, a beautiful pink-haired sophomore, and Greg Universe, a scruffy looking boy who claimed to be a musician (Sapphire noticed that he lacked the key card on a lanyard that the rest of them had used to get into the cafeteria), Amethyst Singh, another freshman with a mop of hair and a pile of food on her plate at least 8 inches tall, and, surprisingly enough, Pearl, Sapphire's own roommate. Rose saw Sapphire and Pearl's confused looks at each other. "Do you two know each other?" she asked. "Yes, Rose, she's my roommate," Pearl instantly told her. "Oh, how wonderful! Pearl, Amethyst, and I have been friends since high school. Pearl and I were on our school's campus ministry team. Actually, now I'm one of Del-U's junior student leaders for the campus ministry program here," Rose explained. Introductions over with, Sapphire bowed her head to bless her food, mouthing the words silently. Amethyst cleared her throat. "Hey, uh, are you gonna eat that mac and cheese, or are you just gonna sit there? Because I didn't see it when I went through the line, but it looks really good, and-" "SHH. She's trying to pray, you fool," Pearl snapped. Sapphire finished saying the blessing and looked up at Amethyst. The other girl blushed. "Er- sorry. Didn't know," she explained, embarrassed. "It's okay. It happens more than you would think," Sapphire reassured her. She glanced around the table again and got a better look at the group. Amethyst was funny, always laughing at her own jokes. Greg had the longest hair that Sapphire had ever seen on a man- it may have been longer than hers, and he had several piercings in both ears. If her mother had been there, she would have rolled her eyes and told her to stay away from people who couldn't bother to look normal. Pearl was pale, skin almost white, with ginger hair so light that it looked peach. She seemed to worship the ground that Rose walked on, not that Rose noticed. She was too enamored with Greg. And then there was Ruby. Sapphire kept stealing looks at her, hoping to go unnoticed. She was sweet, and awkward, often looking surprised at the words that had come out of her mouth, like she hadn't known what she was going to say until she had already said it. Her afro was like a cloud around her charming face, with her strong, square jaw and deep brown, sparkling eyes. Then those bright eyes were looking straight into hers. The din of their surroundings quieted down and everything slowed a bit, as if the universe had pressed mute for a moment. And it was just that. A moment. Before she knew it, Ruby had looked away, face just a tad bit darker than before. Then she glanced back at Sapphire and smiled. Sapphire's chest filled with warmth and this time, she was the one to look away. \--------------------- Ruby Williams was burning up. Not literally, but her face felt so hot that she might as well have been, she thought. Nothing, no one, could have prepared her for turning around in her chair and seeing the most beautiful girl she had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on in her entire life, nor for the possibility that the girl would be willing to sit with them, and not just that, but sit _right by_ Ruby. She felt like she did in middle school when she used to fawn over her best friend's gorgeous older sister, Jade. But this girl, unlike Jade, was not six years older than Ruby, and was somehow even prettier. She told Ruby in a smooth, low voice that her name was "Sapphire Santori," which rung a bell somewhere in the back of Ruby's mind, but she was too busy being occupied with trying to think of words that normal, interesting people say when introducing themselves. When Sapphire bowed her head over her food silently, Ruby was about to inquire what on earth she was doing, but luckily, Amethyst did her thing and found out the answer to her question in what might be the most abrasive way that she could have possibly gone about doing it. Ruby had to restrain herself from leaping over the table and whalloping her new roommate for being so _embarrasing_. Before she had the chance to do this, Rose started passing her phone around the table, asking if everyone would add themselves as a contact. Soon, everyone ended up with everyone else's number and Instagram account, and Ruby overheard something from Rose about how she was going to add them all to a group chat, which Ruby honestly thought sounded like a nightmare, not that she was going to comment on it. Ruby and Amethyst were on their way back to the dorm and Ruby was lost in thought, thinking about Sapphire's dreamy blue eyes and how a girl like that was definitely out of her league, when she noticed Amethyst was giggling. "What?" Ruby asked unassumingly. "Not to come off as rude, but are you gay?" she asked abruptly. Ruby wasn't necessarily _offended_ by the question, but she was certainly surprised. "Well, yeah, but why?" "Because you were clearly losing your damn mind over little Miss Santori back there," Amethyst snickered. Ruby would protest, but honestly didn't think there was any point in trying to cover up something so obvious. "Ha ha, very funny, laughing at my suffering. And to think I was beginning to see you as a friend," Ruby teased back. "Based on those love-struck eyes that I was seeing, your suffering has only just begun, buddy," Amethyst grimaced, and pounded Ruby sympathetically (painfully) on the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Like I said, I hope I'll get better at formatting soon. Leave some kudos or tell me in the comments what you think of this fic!

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo! Chapter one down! This is my first ever SU fanfic so let's see where it goes! Maybe I won't abandon this fic after two chapters...


End file.
